Shiver
by Suicidal Mickey Mouse
Summary: A short NancyFrank oneshot that takes place in the middle of a tense case.


Disclaimer: I do not own Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, any of the characters associated with them, or any pop culture references that I may choose to include.

Author's notes: No, I'm not dead. Although my AP European History exam briefly made me wish I was.

This is a snippet of interaction between Nancy and Frank that takes place in the middle of a case. Not a whole lot of information is given, but it is enough for everything to be understood.

Also, this is a one shot, so you won't have to wait for an update!

Shiver

Standing on the balcony of the hotel room to watch the sunset probably wasn't the smartest move on Nancy's part, not when she could describe at least three people who would love to see her dead, however watching the sunset was her vice. It was an occupation of comfort that assured her the world did continue to go on despite the bad things that had happened during the day. The sunset was a sign that things would eventually be all right again. Thus she stood on the balcony of the hotel room to watch the sunset, instead of sitting in the hotel room to watch the awkward silence. That would have been a feat unto itself.

She sighed heavily, leaning onto the railing with her elbows resting on it. The falling sun was causing the sky to be the color of a bruised peach, but it wasn't doing anything to lower the temperature of the oppressive heat. Standing up straight required too much effort in the high and muggy temperature.

The door to the room slid open, and she straightened for two reasons. One was that if it was an enemy it would be nearly impossible to defend herself if she was already at a disadvantage, and the other was that if it was either of the other occupants of the room than she was not about to give them any more ammunition to use against her in the campaign that she shouldn't be working this case. The familiar gentle heaviness of the following footsteps told Nancy that it was for the second reason. She sighed again, but would not even turn around to really acknowledge his presence.

"I'm…um…I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

The voice of the speaker revealed that it was Frank, and not Joe that had shuffled out of the woodwork with his tail between his legs. It had practically been a given anyways. Joe rarely shuffled. Nancy relaxed her stance just a little with this fact, but still didn't say anything.

"You don't deserve the added stress, and you don't deserve what I said."

It was most definitely an apology, and Nancy was grateful, but she wasn't going to turn around. Stubborn was a word typically used to describe mules and men. She liked being the exception. Staying as she was would make Frank squirm, which was an entertaining concept. Besides, hearing what he had to say was typically interesting.

Frank sighed, and took a step further out. Now she could feel the heat radiating off of his body; it seemed to travel directly towards her. "You are an amazing wo—person, to be working this case, with everything that the client has put you through."

"She's not paying us. She's not a client." She didn't say anything about his slip-up. Making fun of him while she was ignoring him wouldn't have been considered very proper, even if Frank would have taken the remark in stride. The correction that she made was comment enough in any case. Nancy did not need him to know that he was rapidly gaining ground to get back into her good graces.

"That's not the point. The point is, I accused you of not maintaining your objectivity because you're mad at her when the truth is that you're the only one who has been objective at all. Joe and I were dismissing her as a suspect because she's been so nice to us and really doesn't seem like the kind of person who would shoot her husband and then run over his body. But I've been thinking about it and I've realized that you aren't petty like that. You have a real reason for considering her and I was an ass to suggest that you don't."

"Gee, here I thought I was going to get a simple apology and I end up getting a man to admit that he's an ass." Nancy turned around with a small smile that had sprouted from his speech on her face. "I'm good."

Frank smiled a little too, just so he wasn't outdone. "Does that mean we aren't fighting anymore?"

"Right in one." They looked at each other for a few moments, in a sort of happy silence until Nancy was suddenly aware of the fact that the reason she could feel the heat coming off of Frank was the fact that he was standing only three inches away. She tried to step back and increase the distance slightly, but her foot collided with the wrought iron of the balcony. She was stuck. "Apology…um…accepted."

What had been a happy silence became an awkward one. Before the fight they had spent the case comfortably flirting with each other, as had always been their habit when together despite whoever they had waiting at home, and refusing to voice whatever their real feelings may be. Frank wouldn't admit it, but he had been goaded into picking the fight with her because Joe had called him on this. Now things were silent and they were avoiding even looking at each other just because they had no cute and witty way to dig themselves out of such a tense situation. While Nancy was looking one way towards the line of balconies perfectly identical to the one they were on, sans two detectives, Frank stole a glance at her. A strand of her reddish blond hair was in her face, blocking her eyes from view. He reached out and brushed it back with two fingers.

Nancy felt Frank's fingers brush against her cheek was she found herself wondering where the slight calluses on his fingertips had developed. Goose bumps began to raise along her arms, and she knew that they most definitely had developed from the contact. She turned back to face him; she had to curl her toes tightly to prevent the shiver that ran up her spine from becoming a full-body reaction, and she hoped that he wasn't looking down at her feet to notice. She pretended to cough into her hand, just for an excuse to break the silence. "Joe's probably wondering where we are." She started to step to the side to go around Frank and back indoors, but Frank gently grabbed her wrist and made her stay in place.

"Let him."

Frank spoke lowly, and it was all Nancy could do not to just fall into his arms. Instead she let him step closer, place a hand, with the same unfamiliar calluses on either side of her face, and pull her into a kiss.

Before Nancy had left River Heights to help the Hardys with the case, Ned had let her know where he stood on their relationship. _"Nancy, for every person in the world, there is one other person that is so perfect for them that they can make them shiver without even touching them, and I've come to terms with the fact that for you, that person is Frank Hardy. But do me a favor. If you want to be with him, break up with me now. Don't let something happen with him while you're still with me."_ Nancy hadn't known what Ned had meant by saying that, and it was easy for her to assure him that he had nothing to worry about.

Now she knew exactly what he had meant.

Standing on the balcony of the hotel room to watch the sunset probably wasn't the smartest move on Nancy's part, not when she was with someone who made her weak in the knees and her boyfriend was halfway around the world.


End file.
